Insider Guide: Kate Wiltzer

Kate Wiltzer grew up 20 minutes outside of Grand Rapids in Alto, Michigan. She attended Grand Valley State University with an emphasis in marketing and PR, got a job at a video production company straight out of college, then ended up at Experience Grand Rapids a few years later (the city’s convention and visitors’ bureau). “I get to market the city through multi-media [strategies],” she says of her position as Multi-Media Communications Manager. “I handle the web content, visitors’ guide, social media content … the fun stuff!”

As Michigan’s second-most-populous city, Grand Rapids is a cosmopolitan city with a small-town feel. As the home of ArtPrize—part arts festival, part social experiment, which attracts over 200,00 visitors annually over nearly three weeks—Grand Rapids is becoming known on an international level. But even ArtPrize aside, one of the most striking things about Grand Rapids is its creativity and support for the arts.

“This community is filled with innovation and creativity,” Wiltzer says. “If you have an idea, it’s easy for the community to embrace it and collaborate to make it happen. There are so many ‘big’ ideas being recognized now through 5x5 Night, ArtPrize, and Rob Bliss Events—it’s what makes Grand Rapids so vibrant and fun.”

In addition to ArtPrize, there are scores of cultural attractions worth exploring. The Grand Rapids Museum of Art (GRAM) was the first LEED-Certified Gold art museum in the world, and the expansive Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is also home to the largest tropical conservatory in the state of Michigan. There’s also a public museum, a children’s museum, and a contemporary arts museum, and visitors can access all of these institutions with the Culture Pass GR. “All the respective marketing people for the area’s attractions recognized a need for a pass for their members but there was nothing like that for visitors,” Wiltzer explains. “With me marketing to visitors and convention attendees, I thought this was a perfect promotion we could offer them as well.”

Art not really your thing? No judgment. With all of the different colleges and universities located in and near the city (Grand Valley State, an MSU College of Human Medicine satellite campus, Davenport University and Kendall College of Art and Design, just to name a few), Grand Rapids is absolutely a college town, home to over 80,000 students. Wiltzer recommends Eve inside the B.O.B. (“Big Old Building,” a multiple-venue entertainment complex located right downtown) for the more cosmopolitan nightclub feel. Flanagan’s Irish Pub and Monte’s Lounge are popular hangouts, and downtown hotels like the JW Marriott and Amway Grand Plaza Hotel host regular themed party nights geared toward college students and young professionals. In the summer, check out the outdoor stage at Rosa Parks Circle in front of the GRAM for free Friday night concerts.

Grand Rapids is also home to Reserve, what Wiltzer describes as a “top of the line” wine bar that is also committed to serving locally-sourced seasonal cuisine with one of the largest selections of wines by the glass in the country. GR is also a hub of Michigan’s dynamic craft brewery scene, with Founders Brewing Company (ranked among the nation’s best), Brewery Vivant, and HopCat (named by both Beer Advocate and DRAFT Magazine as one of the best beer bars in America). Sign up for a craft beer tour and hit all three. “There’s something for everyone here,” Wiltzer says. “There is so much to choose from every night; you want to be everywhere but you can’t!”

Downtown Grand Rapids is filled with cute and eclectic independent boutiques; Wiltzer recommends Gina’s Boutique. “Gina’s has a very young, New York-style Sex and the City appeal, then next door offers [more professional] business attire,” she explains. “I love it because I can get my Friday night outfit and work attire at the same place!” She also recommends Lia Rose and Lee and Birch.

For Wiltzer, one of the greatest advantages of Grand Rapids is the opportunity to network and collaborate with other young people. “The thing I love about Grand Rapids the most is as a young professional you’re able to really network and meet people easily but also kind of create your own self in a creative world because there’s so many creative outlets out here,” she says. “You create friendships through a strong collaborative community; you have that power of making something of yourself pretty easily because it has that small town feel.”